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NGC 7293 – Helix Nebula

NGC 7293, known as the Helix Nebula or the «Eye of God», is a planetary nebula located about 650 light-years away and one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth. It has an apparent angular size of approximately 25 arcminutes and a visual magnitude of +7.3. It was formed from the outer layers expelled by a Sun-like star during the final stages of its evolution.

General information

Constellation
Aquarius
Category
Nebulae
Date
25 September 2025

Capture

Total time
4 h
Subframes
48x300s (Ha: 27x + OIII: 21x) bin1
Gain / Offset
125 / 30
Calibration
30 flat frames, 30 dark-flat frames and 40 library dark frames, without bias frames

Equipment

Telescope
TS-Optics 102 mm f/5,6
Camera
ZWO ASI294MM refrigerada at -10 °C
Filters
Astronomik Ha and OIII, 6 nm
Mount
Sky-Watcher Wave 150i
Guiding
PHD2 with guide scope, 60 mm f/4, camera ZWO ASI220MM, Pegasus Astro UCH and PPB Micro
Focuser
ZWO EAF
Filter wheel
ZWO EFW with 7 positions

Processing and environment

Processing
Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.9.3
Acquisition
NINA
Location
l'Ampolla
Sky
Bortle 4

Additional versions

Field of viewFull-field view showing the apparent extent of the Helix Nebula and its surrounding star field.
Post-processing workflowDiagram of the PixInsight workflow used to produce the final HOO image.